简单的想法如何孕育出伟大的科学发现：英语精读讲义

One of the funny things about owning a brain 語法

拥有一颗大脑最有趣的事情之一

is that you have no control over the things that it gathers and holds on to, 講解

是你无法控制它收集和保留的东西，

the facts and the stories.

也就是那些事实和故事。

And as you get older, 語法

而随着年龄的增长，

it only gets worse.

情况只会越来越糟。

Things stick around for years sometimes 短語動詞

有时候有些事情会在你脑海中停留好几年

before you understand why you're interested in them,

你才会明白自己为什么对它们感兴趣，

before you understand their import to you. 用詞

才会明白它们对你的意义。

Here's three of mine.

这里分享我的三个故事。

When Richard Feynman was a young boy in Queens,

当理查德·费曼在皇后区还是个小男孩的时候，

he went for a walk with his dad and his wagon and a ball.

他带着他的小推车和一个球和父亲去散步。

And he noticed that when he pulled the wagon,

他注意到当他拉动推车时，

the ball went to the back of the wagon.

球会滚向推车的后面。

And he asked his dad,

于是他问他的父亲，

"Why does the ball go to the back of the wagon?"

“为什么球会滚到推车的后面呢？”

And his dad said,

他父亲说，

"That's inertia."

“那是惯性。”

He said,

他问，

"What's inertia?"

“什么是惯性？”

And his dad said,

他父亲回答，

"Ah,

“啊，

inertia is the name that scientists give to the phenomenon of the ball going to the back of the wagon." 語法

惯性是科学家用来称呼球滚向推车后面这种现象的名字。”

But in truth,

但实际上，

nobody really knows.

并没有人真正知道为什么。

Feynman went on to earn degrees at MIT, 短語搭配

费曼后来在麻省理工学院获得了学位，

Princeton.

接着是普林斯顿大学。

He solved the Challenger disaster.

他破解了挑战者号航天飞机灾难的谜团。

He ended up winning the Nobel Prize in physics for his Feynman diagrams describing the movement of subatomic particles. 短語搭配

他最终因描述亚原子粒子运动的费曼图而获得了诺贝尔物理学奖。

And he credits that conversation with his father as giving him a sense that the simplest questions could carry you out to the edge of human knowledge 講解

他将这一切归功于与父亲的那次谈话，让他意识到最简单的问题可以带你走向人类知识的边缘，

and that that's where he wanted to play. 用詞

而那正是他想要探索的领域。

And play he did. 語法

他也确实这么做了。

Now,

那么，

Eratosthenes was the third librarian at the Great Library of Alexandria. 文化背景

埃拉托斯特尼是亚历山大图书馆的第三任馆长。

And he made many contributions to science.

他对科学做出了许多贡献。

But the one he is most remembered for began in a letter that he received as the librarian 語法

但他最让人铭记的贡献，始于他作为馆长收到的一封信，

from the town of Swenet,

那封信来自斯韦内特镇，

which was south of Alexandria.

位于亚历山大港的南边。

The letter included this fact that stuck in Eratosthenes' mind. 習語

信里提到了一件深深印在埃拉托斯特尼脑海中的事。

And the fact was

事实是这样的，

that the writer said,

写信的人说，

"At noon, 文化背景

“在正午，

on the solstice,

夏至日的时候，

when he looked down this deep well,

当他低头看这口深井时，

he could see his reflection at the bottom,

他能看到井底自己的倒影，

and he could also see that his head was blocking the sun."

而且他也能看到自己的头挡住了太阳。”

Now,

现在，

I should tell you,

我得告诉你们，

the idea that Christopher Columbus discovered that the world is spherical is total bull. 用詞

克里斯托弗·哥伦布发现地球是圆的这个说法纯属胡说八道。

It's not true at all.

根本不是真的。

In fact,

事实上，

everyone who was educated understood that the world was spherical

每个受过教育的人都知道地球是圆的，

since Aristotle's time.

从亚里士多德时代起就是如此了。

And Aristotle had proven it with a simple observation.

亚里士多德通过一个简单的观察证明了这一点。

He noticed that every time you saw the Earth's shadow on the moon,

他注意到每次看到地球在月球上的投影时，

it was circular.

它都是圆形的。

And the only shape that constantly creates a circular shadow 語法

而唯一能持续产生圆形阴影的形状

is a sphere.

就是球体。

QED, 用詞

证明完毕，

the Earth is round.

地球是圆的。

But nobody knew how big it was until Eratosthenes got this letter 語法

但没人知道地球有多大，直到埃拉托斯特尼收到这封信

with this fact.

并知道了这个事实。

So,

于是，

he understood that the sun was directly above the city of Swenet

他明白太阳在斯韦内特城上方直射，

because looking down a well, 語法

因为向井下看时，

it was a straight line all the way down the well,

光线沿着井一直往下是一条直线，

right past the guy's head,

直接越过那个人的头顶，

up to the sun.

直达太阳。

Eratosthenes knew another fact.

埃拉托斯特尼还知道另一个事实。

He knew that a stick stuck in the ground in Alexandria

他知道如果在亚历山大港地上插一根棍子，

at the same time and the same day at noon,

在同一天的同一个时间——正午，

the sun's zenith, 用詞

太阳位于天顶，

on the solstice,

也就是夏至日时，

the sun cast a shadow that showed it was 7.2 degrees off axis. 講解

太阳投下的阴影显示它偏离了中轴线7.2度。

Now,

现在，

if you know the circumference of a circle and you have two points on it, 語法

如果你知道一个圆的周长，且上面有两个点，

all you need to know is the distance between those two points

你只需要知道这两个点之间的距离，

and you can extrapolate the circumference. 用詞

就能推算出整个周长。

360 degrees divided by 7.2 equals 50.

360度除以7.2等于50。

I know it's a little bit of a round number and it makes me suspicious of this story too, 講解

我知道这个整数听起来有点太巧了，这也让我对这个故事有点怀疑，

but it's a good story,

但这是个好故事，

so we'll continue with it. 表達脈絡

所以我们就继续讲下去吧。

He needed to know the distance between Swenet and Alexandria,

他需要知道斯韦内特和亚历山大港之间的距离，

which is good because Eratosthenes was good at geography.

这很好办，因为埃拉托斯特尼精通地理。

In fact,

事实上，

he invented the word geography.

“地理（geography）”这个词就是他发明的。

The road between Swenet and Alexandria was a road of commerce, 用詞

斯韦内特和亚历山大港之间的路是条贸易之路，

and commerce needed to know how long it took to get there.

商人们需要知道走这条路需要多长时间。

It needed to know the exact distance.

需要知道确切的距离。

So,

所以，

he knew very precisely

他非常准确地知道

that the distance between the two cities was 500 mi.

这两座城市之间的距离是500英里。

Multiply that times 50,

把它乘以50，

you get 25,000,

得到25,000，

which is within 1% of the actual diameter of the Earth. 短語搭配

这与地球实际直径的误差在1%以内。

He did this 2,200 years ago.

他在2200年前就做到了这一点。

Now,

如今，

we live in an age 語法

我们生活在一个时代，

where multi-billion-dollar pieces of machinery are looking for the Higgs boson. 講解

价值数十亿美元的机器正在寻找希格斯玻色子。

We're discovering particles that may travel faster than the speed of light.

我们在发现可能比光速还快的粒子。

And all of these discoveries are made possible 短語搭配

所有这些发现之所以成为可能，

by technology that's been developed in the last few decades.

都归功于过去几十年发展起来的技术。

But for most of human history, 表達脈絡

但在人类历史的大部分时间里，

we had to discover these things

我们必须发现这些事物，

using our eyes and our ears and our minds. 表達脈絡

只用我们的眼睛、耳朵和大脑。

Armand Fizeau was an experimental physicist in Paris.

阿尔芒·斐索是巴黎的一位实验物理学家。

His specialty was actually refining and confirming other people's results. 用詞

他的专长其实是改进和确认别人的实验结果。

And this might sound like a bit of an also-ran, 用詞

这听起来似乎有点像陪跑者，

but in fact,

但事实上，

this is the soul of science 習語

这才是科学的灵魂，

because there is no such thing as a fact that cannot be independently corroborated. 語法

因为不存在不能被独立证实的事实。

And he was familiar

他很熟悉

with Galileo's experiments

伽利略的实验，

in trying to determine whether or not light had a speed. 語法

那些试图确定光是否有速度的实验。

So,

所以，

Galileo had worked out this really wonderful experiment 短語動詞

伽利略设计过一个非常棒的实验，

where he and his assistant had uh a lamp.

他和他的助手，呃，有一盏灯。

Each one of them was holding a lamp.

他们每个人手里都拿着一盏灯。

And Galileo would open his lamp 語法

伽利略会打开他的灯，

and his assistant would open his lamp.

然后他的助手也会打开他的灯。

And they got the timing down really good. 短語搭配

他们把时间卡得非常好。

They just knew their timing.

他们完全掌握了时机。

And then they stood

然后他们站

at two hilltops 2 mi distant.

在相距两英里的两个山头上。

And they did the same thing on the assumption from Galileo 語法

他们做了同样的事情，这是基于伽利略的假设：

that if light had a discernible speed,

如果光有可察觉的速度，

he'd notice a delay in the light coming back from his assistant's lamp.

他就会注意到助手灯光传回来的延迟。

But light was too fast for Galileo. 語法

但光速对伽利略来说太快了。

Uh he was off by several orders of magnitude 用詞

呃，他差了好几个数量级，

when he assumed that light was roughly

因为他假设光速大约是

10 times as fast as the speed of sound. 語法

音速的10倍。

Fizeau was aware of this experiment.

斐索知道这个实验。

He lived in Paris.

他住在巴黎。

And he set up 短語動詞

于是他建立

two experimental stations

了两个实验站，

roughly 5 and 1/2 mi distant

相距大约5.5英里，

in Paris.

就在巴黎。

And he solved this problem 語法

他解决了伽利略的

of Galileo's,

这个问题，

and he did it with a really relatively trivial piece of equipment. 用詞

并且他用了一个极其简单的设备就做到了。

He did it with one of these.

他用了这其中的一个。

I'm going to put away the clicker for a second

我要先把翻页笔放下一会儿，

because I want to engage your brains in this. 短語搭配

因为我想让你们开动脑筋思考一下这个。

Now,

大家看，

this is a toothed wheel. 用詞

这是一个齿轮。

It's got a bunch of notches 短語搭配

它有一堆凹槽，

and it's got a bunch of teeth.

还有一堆齿。

This was Fizeau's solution to sending discrete pulses of light. 用詞

这就是斐索用来发送离散光脉冲的解决方案。

He put a beam behind one of these notches.

他把一束光放在其中一个凹槽后面。

If I point a beam 短語搭配

如果我把光束

through this notch

穿过这个凹槽

at a mirror

射向5英里外

5 mi away,

的一面镜子，

that beam is bouncing off the mirror 短語動詞

这束光会从镜子上反射回来，

and coming back to me through this notch.

再穿过这个凹槽回到我这里。

But something interesting happens

但有趣的事情发生了：

as he spins the wheel faster.

随着他转动齿轮的速度越来越快。

He notices

他注意到

that it seems like a door is starting to close on the light beam that's coming back to his eye. 習語

就好像有一扇门开始对回到他眼中的光束关闭。

Why is that? 表達脈絡

为什么会这样？

It's because the pulse of light

因为光脉冲

is not coming back through the same notch.

不再通过同一个凹槽返回了。

It's actually hitting a tooth.

它实际上打在了一个齿上。

And he spins the wheel fast enough

当他把齿轮转得足够快时，

and he fully occludes the light. 用詞

光线被完全遮挡住了。

And then,

然后，

based on the distance between the two stations 短語搭配

根据两个站点之间的距离、

and the speed of his wheel

他转动齿轮的速度

and the number of notches in the wheel,

以及齿轮上凹槽的数量，

he calculates the speed of light to within 2% of its actual value. 短語搭配

他计算出了光速，误差在实际值的2%以内。

And he does this

而他做到这一点

in 1849.

是在1849年。

This is what really gets me going about science. 習語

这正是科学真正让我着迷的地方。

Whenever I'm having trouble 語法

每当我难以

understanding a concept,

理解一个概念时，

I go back and I research the people that discovered that concept.

我就会去回顾并研究发现那个概念的人。

I look at the story

我去看那背后的故事，

of how they came to understand it. 短語搭配

看他们是如何理解它的。

And what happens when you look at what the discoverers 語法

当你看发现者们

were thinking about

在做出发现时

when they made their discoveries

脑子里在想什么，

is you understand

你就会明白，

that they are not so different

他们和我们

from us.

并没有那么不同。

We are all bags of meat and water. 習語

我们都只是由肉和水组成的躯体。

We all start with the same tools. 習語

我们一开始用的都是同样的工具。

I love the idea that different branches of science are called fields of study. 習語

我喜欢科学的不同分支被称为“研究领域（fields）”这种说法。

Most people

大多数人

think of science as a closed black box, 習語

把科学看作一个封闭的黑盒，

and in fact,

而实际上，

it is an open field.

它是一片开阔的领域（field）。

And we are all explorers.

我们都是探索者。

The people that made these discoveries

那些做出这些发现的人

just thought a little bit harder

只是对他们所看到的东西

about what they were looking at.

多进行了一些更深入的思考。

And they were a little bit more curious.

他们只是多了一点好奇心。

And their curiosity changed the way people thought about the world. 短語搭配

而他们的好奇心改变了人们对世界的看法。

And thus, 表達脈絡

也因此，

it changed the world.

改变了世界。

They changed the world.

他们改变了世界。

And so can you. 語法

你也可以。

Thank you.

谢谢。